18 pupils and 3 staff had a very early start for their four day trip to Madrid. Learning started as soon as the 6.30am flight had landed and they were in the heart of the city enjoying Churros and ordering drinks within the hour. The first day was filled with a combination of food and art, the highlights being enjoying tapas and seeing the Guernica.

The second day saw an impressive visit to the home of Real Madrid complete with tour of the Bernabéu Stadium. This was followed by lunch at the Hard Rock Café. We then enjoyed the gorgeous weather in the huge Retiro Park, whilst learning about ordering food and drink. A picture scavenger hunt ended the day. Our final full day started with a visit to the Royal Palace and gardens and ended with some shopping time. In the middle of the day we had a guided tour of the Las Ventas Bull Ring. This gave way to lots of intelligent debate and discussion on the ethics and traditions of Bull Fighting. We finished the day with drinks at a wonderful café with a very entertaining waiter in the Plaza Mayor.

An early morning gave way to the sad day when we had to leave for the journey back to reality, landing in the cold and wet at Manchester. I think everyone would have happily stayed in the glorious sunshine of Madrid for a few more days. So much was learnt and so much Spanish spoken that the trip was an amazing success which we will hopefully repeat in the future.